Is Blogging Fun or Is It a Business?

 

Given the opportunity, most people will give you their opinion on anything from the weather to the price of fuel. While there may be some who do not want to hear your life story, there are millions of people who do. Blogs have been around since 1990, however, over the past few years, there has been a huge rise in the numbers of people who are eager to share the cupcakes they made or what is in the news. However, when does it turn from a bit of fun in your spare time, to a business opportunity?

Finding the Niche

If you have ever looked on Twitter or the other social media platforms, you will know that there are blogs on almost every topic imaginable. The most popular are lifestyle blogs, where people publish their favourite recipes or give a guide to making clothes or furnishings.

Finding a niche is probably the hardest part of blogging, and many will change their topic at least once in the beginning of their blogging journey.

Being Prolific

The key for many bloggers is to publish regularly; these are the people who would usually look to gaining an income from blogging. Regular posts create a loyal following, and this gets noticed by large enterprises.

In the beginning, it might just be small products that companies want you to review, but it is a start.

Being prolific doesn’t mean just you have to do all the writing; around 63% of blog readers think having more than one author adds credibility to the blog.

Running your Site

How the site is hosted is also a big part of getting noticed and making money. Although sites such as WordPress and Blogger offer their own branded domain, using a UK web host to host your custom domain has shown to improve the sites reach and search rankings.

Then there is Search Engine Optimisation or SEO. A blogger that can make SEO work for them has a much better chance of making money because, for advertisers, it is all about your web views and engagement.

Social Media

At one time, the rise of social media was hailed as the killer of blogging because everyone thought there would be no need to blog if you can post. However, the opposite has happened: social media has led to a huge surge in blogging as it helps people to distribute their content.

In fact, far from being a blog killer, social media has turned some bloggers into mini celebrities among their readership.

Can Blogging Make you Money?

There is no doubt that you can get a few offers from companies to show their products on your blog, but it will not very often amount to a real revenue. Only around 8% of bloggers earn enough to support their family, and 81% will only make around 100 euros. There are plenty of stories, however, of people making a real impact with their blog, so the potential is there.

Despite this, there are still more bloggers starting each week, and it seems like people still cannot get enough.